"We'll play with passion and conviction"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…personnel matters:

"Marco John has sustained a shoulder injury and was operated on Thursday. The surgery went well but he will be out for several months. Benni Hübner is not in contention for the game on Sunday due to back problems, plus there are two Corona cases: Sebastian Rudy and Dennis Geiger. Florian Grillitsch picked up a minor muscle injury in training on Tuesday and is also certain to miss out. There are question marks over the involvement of Stefan Posch following his Corona infection. We'll need to wait and see in his case – the same goes for Pavel Kaderabek, but he will also be involved. I'm confident about that. Things are also looking positive for Robert Skov, who played for the U23s, scored and could be a factor sooner than we planned. In addition, we'll be without David Raum, Kevin Vogt and Kevin Akpoguma due to suspension."

…the approach on Sunday:

"Everyone still with us is in for a particular challenge. We'll now briefly dust ourselves down, pick ourselves up and head to Leipzig with a small squad. Everyone still involved, including us coaches, must battle together against the adverse circumstances of this week and the strengths of this Leipzig team. Of course, the players will have a bit more experience under their belts must take the lead. We will go into the game with 10 outfield players plus a goalkeeper and five substitutes in the best-case scenario. And we will try to take our chance."

… RB Leipzig:

"Those who know me know that I always approach things positively and that I also see the opportunities rather than just the risks. I think Leipzig are currently the best team in the Bundesliga and they also have the best record in the second half-season. They seem extremely stable and always show their individual class on the pitch. They have players like Nkunku, Olmo and Gvardiol, who can be categorised as some of the best in the Bundesliga. That's a tough one to deal with – on the one hand because of our squad situation and on the other because of the opposition. Nevertheless, we'll play with passion and conviction. It's a challenge, but one we'll face without question."

…lessons from RB's game against Atalanta:

"Atalanta are a strong team that chose a courageous approach. I saw a lot of man-to-man marking. They managed to stop Leipzig from playing to their potential for long spells. We watched closely, but we won't try to replicate that game just because it ended 1-1. That said, we'll take things on board to build momentum in the remaining two days."

…the home straight in the league:

"RB are a team that simply manage to show their class. Leverkusen won two matches in which they didn't play amazingly well. We haven't manage that. That's why I feel vindicated because I've always said that we always need to take it one week at a time. I never spoke about the Champions League but instead always emphasised that we need to pick up points in order to be able to say during the real home stretch from Matchday 30 onwards: we're now pursuing this objective. We're still in the phase where it's about manoeuvring yourselves into position. We want to improve that starting position on Sunday too. A season has 34 matches and you settle up at the end."

 

The opposition's form

Leipzig have the best record in the second half of the season, with 26 points from 11 games – three more than FC Bayern. The men from Saxony are still going strong in the DFB-Pokal and the Europa League as well, as they continue to challenge for their first-ever title. Leipzig have won six and drawn four of their last 10 competitive matches. On Thursday evening, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Italian club Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.

Head-to-head record

TSG claimed a 2-0 victory over RB in the reverse fixture. However, Hoffenheim have the inferior overall head-to-head record in the Bundesliga. Of their 11 previous meetings, Hoffenheim have three wins and Leipzig five, while there have been three draws.

Match facts and statistics »